ISU volleyball coach Christy Johnson-Lynch made one thing clear during her media day press conference — this is her deepest team yet.

With players like 2014 Big 12 Libero of the Year Caitlin Nolan returning, it’s not hard to see why Johnson-Lynch would make that statement. But the reason is not because of the players who are returning. It’s because of the team’s newest members. 

“We brought in a lot of depth in this 2015 recruiting class,” said assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Jon Newman-Gonchar.

The Cyclones have added six freshmen to their 2015 roster, and those freshmen are all unique in their own way.

Johnson-Lynch said both left-side hitter Hannah Bailey and outside hitter Jess Schaben have been terminator-like for the Cyclones thus far, mainly because of their impressive arms.

“Schaben mostly played middle in high school [and] club, but we have moved her to left [or] right-side hitter and she has been a terminator for us,” Johnson-Lynch said. “And Bailey, I have seen her some days become a terminator for us on the left side.”

Not only has Schaben been dominant for the Cyclones this preseason, but she has reminded Johnson-Lynch a lot of former ISU All-American Victoria Hurtt.

Along with Schaben, who has been one of the more comfortable freshmen during the preseason, Johnson-Lynch said Grace Lazard is also fitting in well.

“Grace [Lazard] joined us last spring, which has helped her a lot thus far,” Johnson-Lynch said. “She has been a physical competitor at blocker and possesses great presence, though she still needs to clean up her blocking technique.”

Lazard is not the only freshman who needs to improve her technique. Hali Hillegas will need to clean up her technique as she goes from a “do everything” player in high school to become a successful, full-time defensive specialist/libero. Johnson-Lynch said this is something she can see happening in the future.

“Given time, I believe she will flourish at that position,” Johnson-Lynch said.

The last two freshmen, setter Remi Bowman and defensive specialist/libero Abby Phillips both seem to be naturals at their given positions this preseason.

Not only have these six players been impressive thus far, they were highly sought after around the country.

Bailey, Bowman and Schaben were all top-35 recruits coming out of high school. Bowman, the No. 22 recruit in the country, is tied with former ISU setter Alison Landwehr as the highest rated recruit to ever grace Iowa State’s campus.

Not only were those three freshmen top-35 recruits, Lazard was one of the top young players in the United Kingdom, and Hillegas and Phillips were two of the top recruits in Iowa.

At the end of the recruiting cycle, these six freshmen formed a class elite enough to give the Cyclones the No. 8 ranked class in the nation. With a top-10 recruiting class, Johnson-Lynch said she hasn’t been disappointed yet this preseason.

“This is a terrific group of women and they have gotten along very nicely with the rest of the team,” Johnson-Lynch said.